North Macedonia recently amended its law to increase the amount of time dedicated to physical education in schools. As part of this, the country has implemented an innovative approach where physical education teachers work in tandem with the teachers of other classes to provide opportunities for physical activity throughout the school day.
Confronting noncommunicable diseases at the national level
WHO/Europe previously supported the government of North Macedonia to develop its Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) Action Plan and a detailed roadmap on how it should be implemented. This has served to strengthen action to prevent NCDs and promote healthy lifestyles across the country.
In addition, the WHO Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI), a surveillance system that helps track trends in childhood obesity, found that approximately one-third of children in North Macedonia were overweight or obese. These results were concerning as childhood overweight and obesity have many short- and long-term risks to health and well-being.
Multisectoral action is essential
In response to a request from the North Macedonian Ministry of Health, an international team travelled to Skopje in February 2019 to facilitate a consultative process with key national stakeholders to identify concrete steps to promote physical activity nationwide.
This mission culminated in a multisectoral workshop where national ministries and agencies, academics, the Prime Minister’s special advisor for sport, and representatives of local municipalities gathered to map out actions for increased physical activity. Experts from WHO/Europe presented good practice examples from countries across the Region and facilitated an exercise to outline local solutions to increasing levels of physical activity.
During the workshop, representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science and Ministry of Health, as well as professors from the Faculty for Physical Education, Sport and Health, established a national coordination group to work together and coordinate the promotion of physical activity and sports.
Tangible results of collaboration between WHO and national and local stakeholders
The multisectoral coordination group worked together to push for the implementation of a law that mandated the provision of physical activity opportunities in primary schools throughout the country. This law also ensured the integration of physical education teachers into the classes of other teachers from the first to the fifth grade, referred to as the Tandem Model.
“The establishment of the national physical activity coordination group following the WHO mission was an important step and together we were able to successfully advocate for a change in the law,” said Ms Sanja Sazdovska from the Ministry of Health. Ms Sazdovska expects the reform to help reduce childhood obesity and enhance the psycho-motor development of children in North Macedonia. “The next step planned is to revise the curriculum for physical education, sport and health to ensure it is in accordance with the latest recommendations and best practices,” she added.
“Not only can physical activity help reduce the risk of being overweight and obesity and maintaining good physical health, but it also maintains mental health and improves academic performance,” says Dr Joao Breda, Head of the European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases. “The Republic of North Macedonia should be commended for the important steps made towards improved health and well-being of school children in the country.”